Towing-machine.



E. DALGLEISH.

TOWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12,1909.

977,277. Patented Nov.29, 1910.

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E. DALGLEISH.

TOWING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 12,1909.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

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E. DALGLEISH. TOWING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 12,1909.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

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EDMUND DALGLEISH, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

TOWING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

Application filed July 12, 1909. Serial No. 507,101.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND DALGLEISH, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Guyahoga and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTowing-Machines; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to towing machine, and particularly to that typeof towing machine having means for automatically controlling the engineso that it will pay out or wind in the tow line as the load temporarilyincreases or decreases.

Before the introduction of towing machines, it was customary to employManila hawsers secured to rigid towing posts or bitts, and this methodof towing is still in ordinary use. Although automatic towing machinesare now well known to persons familiar with towing on vessels, it wouldbe desirable for a number of reasons that a boat, and particularly a tugboat, be so equipped that either or both of these methods of towingcould be employed; that is that it be equipped with both the towingmachine and wire tow line or hawser, and tow bitts for the use of theManila hawsers.

Since in ordinary tug boats there is a very large horse power developedin a small hull, it is important that the machinery be very compact. Itis also essential for the proper handling of the boat that the tow linelead from a position some distance forward of the stern of the tug andbe able to swing unobstructedly across the stern in order that the tugmay be readily steered and held in its direction when pulling sidewiseon a tow. It is well understood by naval architects and tug boatmen thatthe lead point or the position from which the tow line should swing,must be accurately determined and that any material change in thelocation of this lead point either forward or aft has a considerableefiect upon the action of the tug or the handling thereof. It is,therefore, important if the tug boat is to be used sometimes with thetowing machine and wire hawser and sometimes with towing bitt-s andManila hawsers, that the location on the hull, from which the wirehawser or the Manila hawser may swing, should be the same in both cases.

One of the objects, therefore, of the invention is the provision of atowing apparatus including an automatic towing machine for the use of awire line or hawser and towing bitts for the use of one or more Manilahawsers, which is very compact and strong and is particularly adaptedfor small towing boats, such as tug boats.

A further object is the provision of a combined automatic towing machineand towing bitt wherein either or both the wire and Manila hawsers maybe employed, and having an arrangement and construction such that thelead or swing point is the same for both the wire or the Manila hawsersand such that neither the wire hawser nor the Manila hawser willinterfere with the use of the other.

A still further object is to provide an improved form of towing bittwherein the usual provision is made for attaching one or more Manilahawsers, and which also supports a nest of lead rollers between whichthe line from the automatic towing machine may pass and about which itmay freely swing.

The invention may be briefly summarized as consisting in certain noveldetails of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts whichwill be described in the specification and set forth in the appendedclaims.

For an understanding of my invention reference is had to theaccompanying sheets of drawings in which Figure 1 is a plan view of thetowing apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 isa side view of the same. Fig. 8 is a view in elevation of a doubletowing bitt which I employ in my improved towing apparatus. Fig. 4; is asection through the towing bitt substantially along the line 44, Fig. 3,and showing also a small portion of the engine frame to which the towingbitt is attached and also in section a traveling carriage or guide whichis designed for securing an even winding of the wire tow line or hawseron the winding drum.

Referring to the figures of the drawings, 10 represents the base uponwhich the engine or other parts of a towing apparatus are supported. Inorder that the towing machine may be as compact as possible and occupyvery little space, I employ a vertical engine having twoverticahcylinders 11 and 12 provided with the usual pistons (not shown)which will be connected to a crank shaft 13 supported in suitablebearings below the cylinders and near the base 10. Supported between thecylinders 11 and 12 is a throttle valve 14 which may be of any suitableconstruction and which is connected with a steam supply (not shown) by avertical pipe 15 and with the cylinders of the engine in the usualmanner. The throttle valve also has a vertical exhaust pipe 16 connectedthereto as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Supported on the base 10 adjacent tothe engine by means of bearings 17, one of which is clearly shown inFig. 2 is a shaft 18 having a drum 19 on which the tow line or hawser20, which is enerally a wire line, is adapted to be wounc, and havingalso a brake disk 21 adapted to be engaged by a suitable brake bandwhich may be controlled manually by a brake wheel 22. The shaft and drumare rotated by means of a large gear 23 secured to the drum 19, as shownin Fig. 1, and by means of a small gear or pinion 2st (see Fig. 2) whichis secured to the crank shaft 13.

The throttle valve 14, previously referred to, as in well known forms ofautomatic towing machines, is designed to be operated by the towing drumthrough suitable mechanism so as to increase or decrease the volume ofsteam admitted to the engine when the load is increased temporarily andthe line is paid out or when the load is decreased and the line is againwound upon the drum. Any suitable automatic mecha nism may be employedfor this purpose, but, for the sake of illustration, I have shownsomewhat conventionally automatic valve operating mechanism somewhatsimilar to that shown in the patent to Edmund Dalgleish, No. 788,190,April 25, 1905.

The automatic valve operating mechanism as here shown is constructed andarranged as follows. Mounted in suitable bearings on the frame of themachine above the shaft 18 is a small shaft 25 which is geared to theshaft 18 so as to be rotated thereby, the gears being shown by dottedlines in Fig. 2, at and 27, respectively, and the gear on the shaftbeing shown in full lines in Fig. 1. The valve 14 is operated by therotation of the shaft 25 through suitable mechanism including a disk orwheel 28 which has an operative driving connection with the shaft 25 andwhich is carried by a lever 29 which is pivoted in any suitable manneron the frame of the machine and may be swung so as to disconnect thedisk 28 and the shaft 25. The disk is provided with a series of teeth 30of a certain size and a longer tooth 31 adapted to normally engagewithin a notch in a link 32 which is pivotally connected at 33 to anupright link 3% which, in turn, is rigidly connected to a rotatableshaft 36 which actuates the movable portion of the throttle valve 14 sothat when the disk or wheel 28 is turned in one direction or the otherby the rotation of the drum 19, shaft 18 and small shaft 25, it will bymeans of the teeth thereon shift the link 32, link 34 and shaft 36 so asto operate the throttle valve 1% and increase or decrease the volume ofsteam which is supplied to the cylinders. Inasmuch as this automaticvalve operating mechanism forms no part of my invention and is fullydescribed in the patent to Dalgleish referred to, it is believed furtherillustration and description of the same is unnecessary.

In order that either the wire tow line 20 or Manila hawsers may beemployed, and in order that either may swing freely about the same leadpoint without interfering in the least with the use of the other, I havesecured upon the base 10 by bolts or other means a double tow bitt 37including twouprights portions 37 and 87 which are pro videdrespectively with prongs 38 and 39 upon which Manila hawsers may besecured, and which are connected together by integral portions 10 and11. This double tow bitt 37 is arranged on the base near the engine andis connected to the frame of the latter by two connecting bars ormembers 42 and 43 in a manner such that there will be a mutual bracingaction between the double tow bitt and the engine, and a strong andcompact combination is provided.

Carried by the tow bitt between the prongs 38 and 39 and between theconnecting members 10 and &1 of the two portions 37 and 37 of the doubletow bitt is a nest of rollers consisting of two spaced horizontalrollers 44 and 4A and two vertical rollers 45* and 45". These rollers bytheir arrangement form a rectangular opening or space through which thetow line 20, which is carried by the drum 19, passes and which,therefore, rectifies the direction of pull on the line of the towingmachine and reduces the side strain on the latter. Thus it will be seenthat Manila hawsers may be secured to the prongs 38 and 39 and may beemployed simultaneously with or independently of the tow line 20 andthat the use of either the Manila hawsers of the tow line will notinterfere with the use of the other. At the same time the rollers are soarranged that the lead or swing point of both the if Manila hawsers orthe tow line 20 is the same. Vith the construction just described thetow line 20 may swing freely to the right or left or in a verticaldirection, and since in its movement it may engage the rollers it cannotbe worn or injured by engagement with the tow bitt.

In order that the tow line 20 may be wound evenly upon the drum 19, Ihave provided a traveling guide or carriage 16 which is designed to moveback and forth upon a horizontal shaft 47 rotatably mounted in theconnecting members 42 and 43 between the tow bitt and engine frame andprovided with a right and left thread adapted to be engaged by a memberon the carriage in a well known manner so as to move back and forthalong the length of the shaft as the latter is rotated. The shaft 4:7 isrotated by means of suitable gearing including a sprocket wheel 48 onthe shaft 47 driven by a chain I9 engaging the lower sprocket wheel 50mounted upon a suitable shaft 51 also extending between the members 42and 41:3 and by means of a larger sprocket wheel 52 which rotates withthe sprocket wheel 50 and is driven by means of a chain 53 which engagesa small sprocket wheel 55 secured to the shaft 25 which as stated beforeis operated through the gears 26 and 27 by the drum 19. The shaft 51,which, as stated before, extends between the bracing members 42 and 43,also serves as a guide for the carriage L6 as the latter is reciprocatedby means of the threaded shaft 47. The carriage 46 is provided with apair of spaced Vertical rollers 56 and 57 between which the lineextends, both the rollers being shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1 and oneof which is shown in Fig. 4.

IVhat I claim is,-

1. In combination, a towing machine comprising a drum adapted to carry aline and an engine for operating the drum, a towing bitt arrangedadjacent the engine and provided with a set of rollers between which theline may be led, and a reciprocating or traveling guide or carriagereceiving the line and arranged to cause even winding thereof on thedrum.

2. In combination with a base, a towing machine mounted on said base,said towing machine comprising a towing drum and a vertical engine forrotating the drum, a pair of uprights mounted on said base and rigidlybraced to the towing machine and means arranged between said uprightsfor guiding the line as it is wound on or off of the said drum.

8. In combination with a base, a towing machine mounted on the base,said towing machine comprising a towing drum and a vertical engine forrotating the drum, a pair of uprights mounted on said base and rigidlybraced to the towing machine, a set of rollers mounted on the saiduprights between which the line may be led and a reciprocating guidearranged between said uprights and the drum adapted to receive the lineand cause even winding thereof on the drum and means operativelyconnecting said guide and said engine.

In testimony whereof, I sign the foregoing specification, in thepresence of two witnesses.

EDMUND DALGLEISH.

WVitnesses VICTOR G. LYNoH, N. L. MGDONNELL.

